Arbutus Shoe - The Imelda Collection!

My granddaughter Olivia wanted more ‘bling’ on this shoe but all I had was a severely checked, worm infested piece of Arbutus. The next one will have the bling!
This is my first high heel so I had some hurdles to overcome before this shoe came into being. My favorite lady’s shoe is an open toe and open heel. The shoe is completely hollow. The glue pot came in handy as I had several splits, but these were mended and the shoe is here for the ‘Imelda’ collection. Enjoy!If you recall the posting, Arbutus – Block to Boot, the first picture shows the left over block from which this shoe was carved.

Nice to meet you wseand. My little 4 yr. old Olivia had a pair of plastic pumps she was wearing during my visit on Sunday. On Monday I transcribed my vision of the boots unto a block of Arbutus and had the rough cut by 9 AM and had the boot finished by 2 pm. With coffee breaks and lunch I think I have about 3 to 4 hours in the project. The wood was severely checked so I had to be careful on the delicate spots. I broke the heel and also the heel strap during the process but two part epoxy is a wonder drug! This was my first prototype of a woman’s high heel. The next ones will be a lot easier and still fun to do! PS I use Foredom and Dremel tools to carve and a bandsaw to cut out the blank.Peteg, The sad look probably is due to the bark in the sole and some spalting in the toe. I also had no idea of doing an open toe and I couldn’t find one of my wife’s shoes to use as a model so the shoe leant over to being a caricature! This wood had severe worm damage which I left intact full of worm sawdust. Found wood is interesting but is full of surprises!

Nice to meet you too Roman. You could have said weeks or months so I don’t feel so bad when it takes me that long to carve something. :~) Great piece I am sure the Granddaughter loves it especially when you get some more bling on it.